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.172" 30gr hpbt or flat base Unobtanium...

Can you tell us the specs on your rifle I've forgotten them.
I know you posted them , but I've forgotten.

Hal
Remington 700 SA 17 TAC
26 inch Lilja Rem Varmint contour barrel
Old BDL Varmint stock
Leupold 6.5-20x40 EFR
25gr Berger targets at 4200 fps
30 gr Woodchuck den Golds at 3950 fps
 
Finding nice .17 caliber bullets has always been a dilemma - especially lead free - or something with a bit more knock-down than the typical 20-25 grn. When Lehigh Defense put the 20 grain Controlled Chaos bullet into their lineup a few years back, I was thrilled - especially after shooting them. Knowing good .17 cal bullets tend to not stick around when other higher-profit bullets can be made in high-demand times such as we have been in - I ordered enough to last me a lifetime (or two?). Good thing - as Lehigh Defense took them out of their lineup soon after, presumably to keep up with higher dollar stuff. If you (or anyone else) could use a bunch of these, let me know as there aren't enough coyotes in the West to use these up......They can be driven to 4,200 fps per Lehigh. They are accurate in my .17 Hornet and put the hurt on coyotes.
 
Hillbilly
Thanks for posting that picture of green grass. It's -15 below with a wind chill of
-40 below. Nice rifle by the way.

Hal
Sure is a sweet rifle,classic beauty. Hal I think Montana is worth the weather.I would just need enough elk to eat and reload all winter
Matt
 
I have a 6 and 7,the 7 stabilizes the Berger 37 very well.The 6 in my opinion is faster than needed.The 7 is a Lilja and in my testing it was very accurate all the way up to 3900 FPS.The rpm at that speed was up past 380,000.This was before 20 calibers were all the rage and I have since decided for my needs a 20 BR or BRA handles what I need to do just fine.It was certainly fun and enlightening and the money spent has long been forgotten.

Matt
 
Phil in my testing the 7 Lilja is about perfect for the 37.Lilja still lists the 7,don’t get the 6.In my ppc I started very low and worked up to a max load, and the 37 was stable from 2400fps up to 3900fps.I think the 37 in a 17 Rem with a 7 twist would do fine.What is your quarry and do you have enough 37s left?
Matt
 
I imagine the reason Todd Kindler got out of the bullet business is that it wasn't economically worthwhile in the quantities he could produce... likely the same was true for Montana Mize. For the other bullet makers who need to order 100K bullet jacket blanks, well, that's likely between $5K and $10K tied up for months if not years... and how much do they have in other raw materials and the necessary equipment?

Just looking at Corbin prices it would cost around $20K to get into the bullet business if one were to go with an automatic/powered press. You'd likely have to sell 100K bullets just to break even... to get a $20K profit making 5 cents a bullet, or 50K bullets at 10 cents profit per bullet. If you can make 1 bullet a second for 40 hours a week, it would take you 50 weeks to make 100k bullets. I would think that the manual presses would take 5x to 10x longer, so even saving 80% on equipment it would take 4 or more years with a manual press to break even.

I'm thinking that you either make bullets as an enjoyable hobby or you make them at a sufficient scale to make it profitable, with a commensurately significant investment. Or move the manual equipment to a Developing World country and set up shop there.A tough business indeed.
 
Finding nice .17 caliber bullets has always been a dilemma - especially lead free - or something with a bit more knock-down than the typical 20-25 grn. When Lehigh Defense put the 20 grain Controlled Chaos bullet into their lineup a few years back, I was thrilled - especially after shooting them. Knowing good .17 cal bullets tend to not stick around when other higher-profit bullets can be made in high-demand times such as we have been in - I ordered enough to last me a lifetime (or two?). Good thing - as Lehigh Defense took them out of their lineup soon after, presumably to keep up with higher dollar stuff. If you (or anyone else) could use a bunch of these, let me know as there aren't enough coyotes in the West to use these up......They can be driven to 4,200 fps per Lehigh. They are accurate in my .17 Hornet and put the hurt on coyotes.
Do you still have a few excess boxes of the Lehigh 18gr or 20gr?
 
I had a quick view/look through Corbin's website, again only a quick reference look. Did not see availability of any type of .17 caliber bullet making dies.
Maybe I should make a quick contact or call and ask, if they make .17 cal dies,......
I am sure Hell leaning on to start making some for my self..

Quality of jackets and availability would be the biggest issue*
 

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